The title of this post, as well as the post itself, was, as usual, a win. Something tells me that the wrecker of that first cake is a lonely artist, frustrated with the lack of opportunity for True Art in his lowly job as a giant cookie decorator... it just speaks to the soul, doesn't it? ((mocking))

wv: Clereti. Not that we get a whole lot of clarity with these cakes...

I think this is my favourite CW post ever. Not so much because of the cakes, but because you've managed to combine LOTR, Monty Python, and Star Trek in a most appealing (apalling?) way. Oh, and wrapping Data totally made my day.

Trivia of the day: the word "orange" comes to us through juncture loss, where the original letter sounds like it's part of the article and gets moved over. Basically, it started out as "a norange" and ended up as "an orange". We get the word from the original Sanskrit: nāraṅgaḥ

I'm not sure I agree with Data. I'm pretty sure my 9 cats are sentient and if they ever learn to get along, they're going to overthrow the regime (me). Still awesome, though.

Bonus internets for the Python reference.

Now for the kerfuffle. Anonymous at 10 a.m. is right about the Texas pronunciation: one syllable with an "ar" sound at the beginning. In the various places I have lived I have heard one syllable (orrrnnj), two (or-unnj, or-anj), or even three (or-un-ju) with the third syllables sometimes having a slight "chuh" sound.

This actually made me nostalgic for the haiku wars my friend Travis and I had many moons ago. Rapid fire emails on various topics. We once composed a total of 15 haikus on the subject of Sonic. Specifically their tots and limeade. Classic!

Cake #1 looks much like my first attempt at painting pottery. Keeping in mind that I have no artistic talents whatsoever. That first piece I call my "primative period" work. I think perhaps practicing on giant cookies would be better. You can eat your mistakes.

In Tennessee, from whence my husband came, it is pronounced ORNJ - which word you hear quite often, as the TN Volunteers are ORNJ and white, and people shout out on a continual basis, "GO BIG ORNJ!" (They also sing Rocky Top on a continual basis, but that's a topic for another conversation...)In Maryland, we give "orange" the usual 2 syllables, and we also prounounce things like Maryville - "mary-ville", not "merravul". ;)

The "Circle of Sprinkles" cake, as you refer to it, was made by a graduate student majoring in both baking and philosophy and is their combined final exam. The white, of course, represents Tabula Rasa, or the blank slate we all start out with, while the multi-colored sprinkles naturally represent the cultural, ethnic, socio-economic and various other elements of diversity that contribute to the nurturing of the human being. You'll note that the circle is imcomplete on the right side -- the circle is not unbroken, it is not fully formed...will it or can it ever be? Space limitations prohibit a thorough analysis of this masterpiece, but that is a brief summary of this ingenious work that provides both food...and food for thought. It is truly a unique doctoral dessert-ation.

Once upon a time in my nerdly youth I had Data's poem committed to memory, along with the Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I Found In My Armpit One Midsummer's Morning. Alas, the fatigue of parenting has eroded both to mere snippets of genius...

But really, I'm thrilled! To have sent a simple picture and get the reward of Jen's humor, Python and ST-TNG references as my reward is my idea of a celebration (hmmm... maybe I should go buy a big cookie with a depressing image on it, just to calm myself down).

Libby, next time I'm at that store, I'll see if I spot a Great Artist moping behind the counter.

Jiniz -- I don't remember a production of Godot in the area at that time, but, perhaps . . .

I suspect, though, that the cookie was a depressed comment on the blizzard-filled winter we were having when I took the pic.

Several years ago at the library where I was gainfully employeed in preparation for a program on Cowboy Poetry, some of the staff wrote haiku about cattle. We called the resulting small collection Cowhide ku.

WV Daniz What the nice young man said to his date at the prom. "May I have this daniz?"

Orange is only one syllable if you pronounce it 'awnj', which is an alteration by dialect. I'd say, if you want it to be pronounced a specific way in order to fit it into a haiku, it needs to be indicated in the spelling. Hence the word "o'er" in poetry of yore, or "belov'd" in hymns.

The 'Eye of Sauron' cookie cake looks to me a heck of a lot more like the Eye of Jupiter, from Battlestar Galactica (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XL5rXGr_HX0/TDjUqFQOK4I/AAAAAAAAAgg/rXzj0TQvZps/s1600/EyeofJupiterBSG.jpg for example). Starbuck is decorating cakes now?

Oh man did I laugh at the Data Raps vid lol. I honestly wish there were more sprinkles on that second cake therefore my ode to sprinkles: More sprinkles or the cake gets it. Doesn't matter if it rhymes not lol.

"M-U-R V-U-L, Murvul, Murvul, MURVUL!!!"Yes, my parents went to Murvul...um, I mean, Maryville College. :) My skin turns purple and orange in honor of them (or because I have Reynaud's, but that's a boring answer!).

"Ornj you glad you're a VOL?!" (for those from that other school nearby)

@mel, brilliant. Overwhelming. I am blinded, in awe, humbled, and enlightened. Best part, I'm about to go visit my philosophy major best friend and then my philosophy major brother. While they destro...um, dissec...um, DISCUSS your theories, I will eat cake. All will be happy. :D

Wow, I'm on geek overload from this week- Monty Python, the Guide, the Rings, ST:TNG...I'm too tired to keep typing all the references (which makes me a slacker, I know).

@mel- even though it sprained my brain, I stuck with you and got to the delightful dessert-ation! :D

mmm,Sonic tots.

-Barbara Anne

[okay, I say orng but, if we're really supposed to put a syllable between vowels then licious is 3 so Krantz's beautiful attempt is marred. pppppbbbbbttthhhhtttt to grammar and read them however you feel most comfortable. I have spoken.]

I am having the weirdest sense of deja vu. Just minutes before opening this post I was pouring juice for the kids and wondering why on earth my husband pronounces it 'ornj' when it is clearly two syllables. Haiku rules rule.

My daughter had to write poetry for science on the circulatory system. We chose haiku, as it was never specified what kind of poetry it needed to be, and wrote several of them while driving to the next town to do a little shopping. We were pretty proud of our creations, and especially of this one:

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A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

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